Asiatic lily named `Cordelia`

ABSTRACT

A new variety of Asiatic hybrid lily having flowers of large size, excellent form, and an intense and unusual color pattern comprising an unusual combination of yellow and gold color tones with relatively sparse maculation, this color pattern being new in the upright Asiatic division of lilies. This plant is highly resistant to disease and shows high tolerance to virus and its flowers have long persistence, both on the plant and as cut-flowers, making it an excellent garden plant. Also, the bulbs may be precooled and forced for cut-flower production, the flowers being produced in late mid-season, inbetween the flowering times of its siblings of similar appearance, thereby broadening the season of cut-flower production.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This new variety of lily plant originated as a seedling selected from agroup of seedlings resulting from my crossing a plant of the speciesLilium Wilsonii var. "flavum" and the cultivar "Connecticut King"(unpatented) at Sandy, Oreg. This crossing was done as the result ofbreeding efforts carried on by me since the year 1971 with the object ofproducing superior upright-flowering Asiatic lilies in the shades ofyellow and gold, suited to cut-flower production, and representing arange of flowering times so as to extend the season of cut-flowerproduction.

The flowers of this new lily plant are characterized by large size, verybroad tepals of thick texture, and an unusual color pattern, each yellowtepal being flushed with gold at its base and having comparativelysparse spotting appearing on each side of the nectaries at their outerend near the base of the tepal. This seedling was selected because theplant and its flowers appeared to possess all of the desiredcharacteristics of form, color, and habit.

This new variety of lily plant has been asexually reproduced by me andunder my direction at Sandy, Oreg., and successive generations producedby bulb-scale propagation and natural propagation from bulblets haveshown that this new plant possesses the desirable characteristics ofhybrid vigor, great hardiness, and a high degree of disease resistanceas observed at Sandy, Oreg., and successive generations produced bybulb-scale propagation and natural propagation from bulblets havedemonstrated that the novel and distinctive characteristics of this newvariety hold true under asexual propagation from generation togeneration and appear to be firmly fixed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

My new variety of lily plant is illustrated in the accompanyingphotographic drawing which shows an open bloom illustrating the flowerform, the tepal arrangement, and the unusually broad form of the tepals,the flower portion of the view having been hand-painted to show thenovel and distinctive yellow and gold color pattern as herein specifiedand the relatively sparse maculation, particularly on the outer tepals.

DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW VARIETY PLANT

The following is a detailed description of my new variety of Asiatichybrid lily with color designations according to The R.H.S. Colour Chartpublished by The Royal Horticultural Society of London, England, asobserved at Sandy Oreg., and with nomenclature according to TheInternational Lily Register, 2nd edition, of The Royal HorticulturalSociety.

THE PLANT

Origin: Seedling.

Parentage:

Seed parent.--Lilium Wilsonii var. "flavum" (unpatented).

Pollen parent.--"Connecticut King" (unpatented).

Classification:

Botanic.--Hybrid lily cultivar, Division I-A of The HorticulturalClassification of Lilies by The Royal Horticultural Society.

Commercial.--Upright Asiatic hybrid lily.

Form: Single stem, erect and stately.

Height: About 120 to 170 cm. from bulbs about 15 to 20 cm. incircumference.

Growth: Vigorous and upright.

Foliage:

Quantity.--Abundant.

Leaf size.--About 8 to 12 cm. long and about 1.5 to 2 cm. wide at thebase.

Leaf shape.--Lanceolate and sessile.

Texture.--Leathery.

Aspect.--Glossy.

Color.--Medium green.

Bulbs:

Size.--Ranging to 25 cm. in circumference in commercial use.

Color.--White.

THE BUD

Form: Long oblong with obtuse base and tip.

Size: About 7 to 9 cm. long just prior to opening.

Opening rate: The bud opens slowly at maturity taking about one hour inresponse to light.

Color: Medium to deep yellow when the outer tepals first divide and whenthe tepals begin to unfurl.

Peduncle:

Length.--About 7 to 10 cm. depending upon light levels.

Color.--Medium green.

THE FLOWER

Blooming habit: Once annually in late mid-season for Asiatic lilies.October-dug bulbs, properly cooled, planted in February in westernOregon, under glass and with no supplementary lighting, will flower inan average of from 95 to 100 days.

Size: Large; 15 to 18 cm. in diameter.

Borne: About 5 to 8 on a single stem as a compact raceme.

Shape: Flat to slightly cup-shaped with the tepal tips lightly recurved.

Tepalage:

Number.--Six.

Arrangement.--Outer tepals appearing between the inner tepals andslightly overlapping them.

Color.--The flowers are distinguished by their color pattern, the basecolor being Yellow, R.H.S. 12A, and each tepal having a flush of Gold,R.H.S. 21A, about 2 cm. wide and about 2 cm. long above the nectary andalong the tepal midrib, the flowers carrying a small cluster of deepmagenta colored spots on each side of the nectary adjacent its outerend.

Color change.--As the flowers age, the color intensifies slightly andmay become more golden toned under low light levels.

Tepal longetivity.--The tepals stay on the stem about 3 weeks.

Pedicels:

Length.--About 4 to 6 cm.

Form.--Sturdy and upright.

Color.--Light green.

Fragrance: None.

Lasting quality: The flower is long lasting, both on the plant and as acut flower.

Disease resistance: The flower and plant are resistant to disease andare particularly resistant to Fusarium and Botrytis, as observed in theregion of western Oregon.

THE REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS

Stamens:

Number.--Six.

Arrangement.--Typical of genus Lilium.

Anthers:

Color.--Greyed Gold, R.H.S. 167A.

Filaments:

Length.--About 5 cm.

Color.--Ivory or yellow.

Pollen:

Color.--Same as anthers.

Pistils:

Number.--One.

Style:

Length.--About 5 cm.

Stigma: Light plum to gold in color.

Character of ovary: Typical of genus Lilium.

THE FRUIT

Fertility: The fruit is fertile.

Shape: Ovoid.

Color at maturity: Soft brown, sometimes overlaid with light plum.

This new variety of Asiatic hybrid lily most nearly resembles"Connecticut King", as does its companion "Vanessa." The flowers of thisnew variety differ from those of "Vanessa," however, in that the tepalsare more widely spaced and are of a generally more oblanceolate shapethan those of "Vanessa" and the upper tepals very narrowly overlap themargins of the lower tepals appearing in the pattern of a six-pointedstar, thus making the flower of the new plant much more open in formwith the nectaries of all of the tepals being spaced apart at the baseend of the flower rather than overlapping as in the case of "Vanessa,"thus providing a flower form much different than that of "Vanessa."Also, in the new flower, the stamens are bunched above the center of theflower rather than being widely spaced as in the case of Vanessa.

    ______________________________________                                        Distinguishing Characteristics of Siblings                                    From the Cross Lilium Wilsonii var. flavum ×                            "Connecticut King"                                                            ______________________________________                                                    Days to                                                           Cv          Bloom       Buds   Maculation                                     ______________________________________                                        Pollyanna   80-85       5-8    Heavy, large.                                  Serial No. 710,427                                                            Joanna      80          5-7    Light                                          Serial No. 710,457                                                            Adelina     80-85       6-8    Very few and                                   Serial No. 710,614             small. Of deep                                                                magenta color.                                 Vanessa     90-95       5-8    Very light                                     Serial No. 710,496                                                            Yolanda      95-100     5-8    Sparse and of                                  Serial No. 710,577             deep magenta                                                                  color.                                         Gold Medal  60-70       6-8    Few tiny                                       (Half Sib)                                                                    Serial No. 710,592)                                                           ______________________________________                                        Cv          Other Notable Characteristics                                     ______________________________________                                        Pollyanna   Relatively narrow, widely spaced tepals and                       Serial No. 710,427                                                                        sepals with very little marginal overlapping.                                 Arrangement, hexagonal.                                           Joanna      Tepal-sepal angle 60°. Arrangement,                        Serial No. 710,457                                                                        generally imbricated.                                             Adelina     Tepals are large, thick textured, relatively                      Serial No. 710,614                                                                        broad, and with lightly recurved tips.                                        Arrangement, imbricated.                                          Vanessa     Tepals have slightly recurved tips and                            Serial No. 710,496                                                                        inconspicuous maculation. Arrangement,                                        uniformly imbricated.                                             Yolanda     Larger bulb, flower dished with tepal-sepal                       Serial No. 710,577                                                                        angle 60°, with lightly overlapping                                    arrangement.                                                      Gold Medal  Very thick and broad tepals in 60° overlap-                (Half Sib)  ping arrangement with sepals, Unusually                           Serial No. 710,592)                                                                       long lasting flowers, bud blast resistant                                     when forced, and attains large bulb size                                      only in season.                                                   ______________________________________                                    

I claim:
 1. A new and distinct variety of Asiatic hybrid lily,substantially as herein shown and described, characterized by its openflower form wherein the generally oblanceolate upper tepals extendmidway between the lower tepals with very little overlapping of thetepal margins and with their nectary ends openly spaced apart at thebase of the flower.